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"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 72 Carolina 4, Isles 3 Trevor Van Riemsdyk scored the winning goal with 6:49 to play as the Caro...

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Skinny: Caps 5, Isles 4 (SO)

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 70

Capitals 5, Isles 4 (SO)

Alex Ovechkin scored two goals in the game, and one in the shootout, as the Washington Capitals rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Islanders 5-4 before a crowd of 11,488 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.The Islanders have trailed for a total of 85 seconds in the last three games, but are 0-1-2 in that span.The Caps' comeback came on a night that both Matt Moulson and John Tavares reached 30 goals on the season and spoiled a three point night for Travis Hamonic.

The Skinny: Tavares and Moulson now share the club lead in goals (30), as the Islanders are the 2nd team in the NHL with two 30-goal scorers (Pittsburgh: Malkin/Neal). Tavares and Moulson have combined to open the scoring 18 times this season, tops of any two teammates in the NHL.The Isles have scored first a total of 36 times. The Capitals improve to 9-6 in extra time (2-3 in games decided by a shootout) while the Isles are 8-11 (5-4 in games decided by a shootout). Tavares was originally credited with the Isles' first goal but it was changed after Tavares told MSG's Peter Ruttgaizer that he had not deflected the puck.Tavares is the youngest Islander since Pat Lafontaine to score 30 goals in a season.

Home and Road

The Islanders are 28-31-11 overall and are 15-15-6 at home.

Washington is 36-28-6 overall and 13-18-3 on the road. The Caps, who are beginning a five-game road trip, have won four straight and are 7-2-1 in their last 10.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 24 shots.He is 16-17-3 on the season.Nabokov, who had won his previous four shootouts as an Islander, is 23-22 in his career in shootouts.He is 10-1-2 all-time against Washington.

Michael Neuvirth made 26 saves for Washington as he improves to 11-11-4 on the campaign.Neuvirth is 5-0-0 against the Islanders in his career.He is now 49-28-8 all-time.

Leaning on #91

John Tavares has 69 points (30-39-69) on 159 Islander goals this season (43.4%).No Islander since Zigmund Palffy has recorded points on over 40% of the team's goals in a complete season. He is one point shy of becoming the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (75 in 2001-02) to record at least 70 points in a season.It was his 15th career multi-goal game and 17th game with at least three points.

He's a Homer

Tavares is 22-17-39 at the Coliseum this season. Only Steven Stamkos (31) and Phil Kessel (24) have more goals on their home ice.

2 Points to Royalty

Only three players in Islander history have recorded at least 71 points at age 21 or younger.All have banners hanging at the Coliseum: Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin.

Don't Forget PA

PA Parenteau missed the game with an upper body injury, ending a 137 consecutive game streak. With 61 points, Parenteau has points on 38.4% of the Islanders' goals this season.He has 46 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeon had 74 and Vladimir Malakhov had 47 in the 1993-94 season.

The Isles are 15-1-8 this season when leading after two periods, winning only 62.5% of games that they have led after 40 minutes.It is the lowest percentage in the NHL.The Isles have played eight games this season where they led by at least two goals and not won (0-1-7)

Men in Black

The Isles are 2-5-3 in their black jersey.

Power Plays

The Islanders went 2-5 on the power play while Capitals did not have a power play.The Isles were 3-33 in their prior 11 games with the extra man and had killed only 25 of 38 in the same span.It was the first time since January 31st that the Isles have scored two power play goals in a game.This was the third time this season that the opponent did not have a power play and the first time since April 10, 1993 vs. Ottawa that the Isles have had as many five power plays while the opponent had none.

They Said It

Matt Moulson: "It's a tough one to swallow."

They Tweeted It

@BComptonNHL: #Isles have now lost 9 times when leading after two. Most in the #NHL.

The Coach

"We talked about Ovechkin all night…he got a couple of chances and it's in the back of the net."

Leading Ice Men

Travis Hamonic led the Isles with 27:56; Denis Wideman led Washington with 26:05.Hamonic (1-4-5 in last 2) is the first Islander defenseman since Andrew MacDonald (12/31/10-1/3/11) to have consecutive multi-point games

In the Circle

The Islanders won 26 draws; the Caps won 27.John Tavares won 11 of 17 for the Isles; Keith Aucoin won 5 of 8 for the Caps.Aucoin, playing just the 90th NHL game of an 11-year pro career, also had three assists and was +3.

Heavy Hitters

The Islanders out-hit Washington 26-23. NHL hit leader Matt Martin had six hits, while Marty Reasoner and Travis Hamonic were each credited with four. Martin has a club record 320 hits (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin.The NHL record is 356, set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09.

Lots of Blocks

The Isles were credited with 13 blocks.They lead the NHL with 1,187.Steve Staios led the Isles with four blocks.

Goals by Period (Season)

Isles:56-51-49-3 = 159

Opponents: 61-63-76-7 = 207

Third period goals include 8 empty net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.

All-time Winners

The Islanders remain 2 games over all-time NHL .500 (1341-1339-432 in 3,112 games). The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Scoring

The Isles have scored 89 goals in their 28 wins (3.18 per game) and 71 goals in their other 42 games (0-31-11; 1.69 per game).In their 31 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 39 goals (1.26 per game).

Head of the Class

John Tavares has 190 career points; he is 42 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks.No other player in that draft is anywhere close.

Longest Point Streaks in NHL, Last 2 Seasons

·Sidney Crosby, 25 games (11/5/10-12/28/10)

·Eric Staal, 12 games (2/8/12-3/6/12)

·John Tavares, 12 games (12/29/11-1/21/12)

·Ilya Kovalchuk 12 games (2/1/11-2/25/11)

Friends, Friends, Friends

Moulson has 30 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 19 of them.He has now been on-ice for 54 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 35 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa.

30-30-30

Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to 1997-98) to have at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons. Only 4 players in Islander history have had more thirty goal seasons: Trottier (11), Bossy (10), Gillies (6), LaFontaine (6). Moulson has 91 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the lockout. Moulson has opened the scoring an NHL-leading 11 times this season and the Isles are 9-1-1 when he does so.He is the first Islander with at least 11 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.

30-30

Tavares and Moulson give the Isles two 30-goal scorers for the second straight season (Grabner 34, Moulson 31 last year). Prior to last year, the Isles had not had two 30-goal scorers since 2001-02 (Alexei Yashin & Mark Parrish).It's the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94 that the Isles have had multiple 30-goal scorers in consecutive seasons (4 in both 92-93 and 93-94).

20-20-20 x 2

Moulson and Tavares are the first Islander teammates to record at least twenty goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake did so in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2005-06.Tavares, by the way, is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals for the Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:

Matt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 234 games since joining the team. Moulson's streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islander history; that figure still stands as the club record.

Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islander defender to do so.The Isles have not had as many as four players play in every game since 1986-87.

Longest Consecutive Game Streaks, Islander History

1.Billy Harris576

2.Bob Nystrom 301

3.Denis Potvin 262

4.J.P. Parise 240

5.Matt Moulson 234

Missing Men

PA Parenteau (upper body) and Dylan Reese (healthy) were scratched. Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve.The Isles have lost 325 man-games to injury so far this season.Al Montoya, who has played in only five games since his collision with Evander Kane in late December, served as the back-up.

Career Years

·Matt Moulson: 28 assists and 57 points are new career highs. He has 30 goals, one shy of his career best.

·PA Parenteau: 46 assists and 61 points are new career highs. He has 15 goals, five shy of his career best.

·John Tavares is 30 goals, 39 assists and 69 points are new career highs.

·Frans Nielsen has 13 goals, matching a career-high set last year.

·Kyle Okposo has 15 goals, four shy of his career-high set in 2009-10.

The team split four games, but both Islander wins were in regulation, so the Isles win the season series six points to 4). The Isles had lost four straight extra-time games to Washington and are 1-7 in the last eight that have gone beyond sixty minutes.Washington is now 13-2-1 over the past four seasons against the Isles.

Happy Anniversary

33 years ago tonight (3-13-79):Islander Hall-of-Famer Ed Westfall announced that he would retire at the end of the season; the Isles pounded the Bruins 7-2. Said Westfall afterwards: "I always wanted to see a game played like this on the day I announced my retirement.It was the way I dreamed it would be."

All-time, the Isles are 8-8-3 on this date.

On The Farm

The Sound Tigers are 32-20-3-5 overall, having earned points in 24 of their last 27 games.Bridgeport has 72 points, tied with Connecticut for the division lead. The Sound Tigers also hold a game in hand.Bridgeport is off until Friday, when they begin a three road game in three day weekend at Connecticut.

The Islanders look for a split in the season series when they host the Flyers.Philadelphia leads the series 3 games to 2, with each team holding one victory in extra time. Both Islander victories have come in Philadelphia; they are 1-9-3 in their last 13 home games against the Flyers.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick